Welcome!
My name is Kristen, and I am the Owner of Miss May Designs. I am excited to share my love for food & events with you.
One of the questions I am asked all of the time is "how did you start doing this?". For some it is a simple answer, like they love baking or it started out as a hobby that turned into a business. For me cakes are a little more complicated. I didn't always love decorating cakes, it definitely was something I loathed more than I enjoyed. I know sounds crazy to make a business out of something you hate right?! Well lets go way back, back to the beginning of my family even being involved in the food industry.
Back in the 70's my grandmother, Millie Green was working doing bookkeeping for the family nut business, The Richard Green Company. She really wanted to try something different and just find something for herself to do outside of being a secretary. Back then, Sears was offering cake decorating classes for $15. Thats right $15! Following that first step into the cake world she began to find her passion for decorating. She also attended The Wilton School of Decorating in Chicago, where she learned many different skills including some foreign designs that were not popular yet in the US. Over the years my grandmother continued to take courses until she decided to start teaching her own classes in the basement of our family business. She taught cake & candy classes here on the Southside of Indianapolis for almost 15 years, as well as sold supplies. Teaching classes were just the beginning of her sweet journey in this world of decorators.
Millie was also heavily involved in the well known, worldwide organization I.C.E.S. There she met & worked closely with world renowned bakers and pastry chefs. She served as president from 1997-1998 & has been on the Board of Directors, as well as been a Show Director for their conventions. Through ICES she was able to learn and stay up to date on the latest and sometimes exclusive trends & products. I remember being a child and attending these conventions. Seeing these beautiful cakes and meeting some really amazing people from all over the world. Still to this day, even though retired, my grandmother who is in her 80's still enjoys attending these events and classes.
The Start of Something New...
In 1994 she decided to open her own cake shop, then called Cakes & Creations by Millie, on the Southside of Indianapolis. During this time there was only one or two bakeries in the entire Indianapolis & surrounding areas. Millie rose the top as one of the most popular and sought after bakeries for custom birthday & wedding cakes. She ended up changing her name to "Amazing Cakes of Indy", which is the name she was most well known by. Her bakery won multiple awards for best wedding bakery & was featured in many articles both locally and nationally. She also was a guest judge on The Food Networks cake competition & was involved in many different avenues for Bakeries throughout the years.
From the time I was very young, my grandma taught me how to decorate cakes. She would have us practice frosting a cake and making icing and fondant roses. There was also an article in the newspaper written about two young cake decorators that I was featured in when I was probably 7 or 8. Now let me tell you this cake was so ugly and pretty much just covered in candy! Definitely not my best work. I would also attend bridal shows with her, I learned how to style & set up our booths and talk to brides. They always loved that us little girls could answer their questions. As many great memories I had in her bakery, I just didn't ever see that as my calling or dream.
Continuing a Family Legacy
Eventually my grandmother retired and sold her bakery. After nearly 30 years of an extremely successful business, Amazing Cakes was closed for the last time. It wasn't until later on in my life I decided to attend Culinary School & begin my journey into becoming a Cake Artist. Growing up and seeing my grandparents run successful businesses from the ground up has given me the drive and inspiration to continue making waves in the Indy food culture.
- Kristen Snyder
~2022~
In Loving Memory of
Richard H. Green Sr.
